Egypt's Education system witnessed several achievements within 8 years: Education min.

CAIRO - 29 June 2022: Minister of Education Tarek Shawky said that the education system witnessed several achievements within the past eight years under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

Shawky reiterated that Sisi put education as a priority in Egypt’s development by launching an initiative eight years ago in an attempt to solve the chronic educational problems and pay attention to the thinking of the Egyptians, adding that Egypt progressed to rank 53 in the Global Knowledge Index (GKI) in 2021.

In statements on Tuesday, Shawky said that the initial steps of developing education were by establishing the Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB) which is the biggest electronic library in the world and making it available for the citizens for free.

The minister reviewed the plan of developing the Egyptian education starting from the authorization of the president to launch the new educational system and change the educational system from education to learning.

As many as 2,500 electronic schools where prepared to fit in the new system, he said.

Shawky asserted that the Ministry of Education implements a different plan to put the framework of the curricula via cooperating with several countries developed in education including the US, Finland and Singapore.

According to the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation's 2016 National Review report for sustainable development goals:

In 2015, the “Karama” (Dignity) program was launched, providing unconditional financial support programs for those who are underprivileged, namely the elderly and those who are fully disabled. The main aim of the programs is to eliminate absolute poverty and cover the basic needs of the elderly and people with disabilities.

The Ministry of Housing is allocating 5 percent of the national project on public housing to PwDs and initiatives are underway to establish four accessible sites near Qena, Ismailia, Alexandria and Cairo.

The Egypt Information and Communication Technology Trust Fund (ICT-TF), jointly established by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and the UNDP, has several IT training and educational programs targeting people with disabilities in about 112 slum areas in Cairo.

Many service projects have been established in Upper Egypt's governorates in cooperation with Terre des Homme, to advocate for the rights of PwDs, and enhance their talents and skills to enable them to operate and manage small projects for hand crafts. Also, the Federation of Egyptian Industries’ initiative “Equal for a better living” aims at providing 1,000 employment opportunities in the private sector for persons with disabilities.

Additionally, a number of cell blocks have been allocated for prisoners with disabilities in three prisons, including Wadi Al-Natron in Beheira Governorate, north of Cairo; and Borg al-Arab in Alexandria. Some other 42 prisons in Upper Egypt are being equipped with the special cell block. A total of 100 prisoners with disabilities have already been transferred to the special devised cellblocks, according to the Ministry of Interior.

Since President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi  declared 2018 as the year of those challenged with a disability, numerous measures and decisions have been taken to assure them proper living conditions.

People with disabilities in Egypt are estimated at about 11 to 14 million, according to the State Information Service [SIS], as disabilities in Egypt include visual, hearing, and mobility impairment, as well as mental disability.